"The year just got a lot more soulful"-SPIN On their breakout album Black Radio Robert Glasper Experiment laid out a new paradigm for creative music & took home the GRAMMY Award for Best R&B Album. Now RGX ups the ante with Black Radio 2 featuring Common, Patrick Stump, Brandy, Jill Scott, Dwele, Marsha Ambrosius, Anthony Hamilton, Faith Evans, Norah Jones, Snoop Dogg, Lupe Fiasco, Luke James, Emeli Sandé, Lalah Hathaway, Malcolm-Jamal Warner, Macy Gray, Jean Grae, Bilal, Jazmine Sullivan and Eric Roberson.

"The year just got a lot more soulful"-SPIN

On their 2012 breakout Black Radio, Robert Glasper Experiment laid out a new paradigm for creative music, reaching beyond entrenched genre boundaries to create a singular vision that drew from all reaches of contemporary black music and beyond. Black Radio drew unanimous praise from critics across the board and earned Glasper the highest chart positions of his career when the album debuted at #10 on Billboard's Top Current Albums chart, also claiming the #1 spot on both the Billboard Jazz chart and the iTunes R&B chart. The album kept earning accolades all the way to the 2013 GRAMMY Awards where Black Radio was awarded Best R&B Album.

On October 29, RGE ups the ante with the release of Black Radio 2 (Blue Note), another genre-defying effort that takes the Black Radio blueprint and builds to even greater heights. The core remains the Experiment, as astoundingly versatile a band as has ever existed, featuring Robert Glasper on keyboards, Derrick Hodge on bass, Mark Colenburg on drums, and Casey Benjamin on vocoder and saxophone. Providing the vocals throughout is another jaw-dropping roll call of vocalists including Common, Patrick Stump, Brandy, Jill Scott, Dwele, Marsha Ambrosius, Anthony Hamilton, Faith Evans, Norah Jones, Snoop Dogg, Lupe Fiasco, Emeli Sandé, Lalah Hathaway, and Malcolm-Jamal Warner.

Fans can find news about the new album, listen to and purchase music, watch exclusive videos, see upcoming tour dates and more in The Official Robert Glasper Experiment App, which is available now exclusively through the App Store.

On Black Radio 2, the emphasis is on songwriting with 11 of the 12 tracks new originals, from the soaring lead track "I Stand Alone" featuring rapper Common and vocalist Patrick Stump of Fall Out Boy through Jill Scott's sensual ode to connection "Calls" to the reinvention fantasy "Somebody Else" featuring BRIT Award winner Emeli Sandé. The lone cover is the album closer, a spine-tingling version of Stevie Wonder's "Jesus Children of America" by vocalist Lalah Hathaway that also features a poignant spoken word tribute to the 20 young victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting by poet Malcolm-Jamal Warner. The album was produced by Glasper along with executive producers Nicole Hegeman and Eli Wolf.

Breakthrough success can often be a tough act to follow. But with a little help from some notable friends, Robert Glasper Experiment is set to up the ante with the follow-up to his successful GRAMMY-winning album Black Radio. Flaunting a diverse array of featured guests including Common, Patrick Stump of Fall Out Boy, Brandy, Jill Scott, Dwele, Marsha Ambrosius, Anthony Hamilton, Faith Evans, Norah Jones, Snoop Dogg, Lupe Fiasco, Luke James, Emeli Sandé, Lalah Hathaway, and Malcolm-Jamal Warner, Black Radio 2 is certain to surprise and delight critics and fans alike. With a unique fusion of R&B, jazz, and hip-hop that brazenly traverses the boundaries of all three genres, Black Radio 2 finds Glasper and his musical cohorts creating in a vibrant new chasm, brilliantly contrasting its predecessor in the process.

"This record was a little different," explains the Houston, Texas native. "I didn't want to make the same record twice. I wanted to make a conscious effort to keep the vibe and the spirit of the first one without it sounding the same." Considering his own rich musical journey, this sonic shifting approach to Black Radio 2 seems to be a long time coming. Reared in a household where Motown, R&B, and gospel were constant companions, his mother sang and played piano in church while indulging in her love for jazz and blues by performing at local clubs. By the age of twelve, he'd begun to fully follow his mother's lead by playing piano in church and accompanying her on club dates on the Houston circuit.

Glasper went on to sharpen his prodigal chops at the Houston High School for the Performing Arts and New School University, allowing his developing affinity for pop, hip-hop, and rock to inform his musical sensibilities. By 2003, Glasper had already racked up spots in the bands of prominent jazz artists such as Christian McBride, Kenny Garrett, Nicholas Payton, Terence Blanchard, and Roy Hargrove. In addition, his deep appreciation of hip-hop and R&B allowed him to form lateral bonds in those respective worlds. Guided by his mother's example, Glasper simultaneously performed jazz while taking gigs as a touring musician and musical director for artists such as Maxwell, yasiin bey, Q-Tip, and Bilal.

With an impressive wealth of experience and talent, it was only a matter of time before he'd become an artist in his own right. That same year, he released his debut album Mood on Fresh Sound Records. Blue Note signed Glasper soon after and released his label debut Canvas (2005), followed by In My Element (2007) and Double-Booked (2009) – his first GRAMMY-nominated effort which juxtaposed his acoustic Trio with the electric Experiment band. While those albums were primarily rooted in jazz, he made certain to sprinkle his other musical influences into the stew. But in 2012, he decided it was time to serve the full main course. Glasper's Black Radio was released that year to a maelstrom of critical acclaim. Featuring the likes of Erykah Badu, Bilal, Lupe Fiasco, Lalah Hathaway, Ledisi, Meshell Ndegeocello, and yasiin bey, the album was cultivated via a series of jam sessions with artists from varying genres whom Glasper formed alliances with during his time in the music industry. "Everybody just came to the studio and we did stuff on the spot," he says. "That was the vibe. I wasn't thinking R&B."

Black Radio was heralded by media outlets such as Rolling Stone, who wrote "Glasper heads down the fraught path of hip-hop jazz and gets it right," adding "with music this smart and inviting, the implied diss of mainstream doesn't feel like sour grapes; it feels like a blueprint forward." The lead single "Ah Yeah" with Chrisette Michele and Musiq Soulchild landed on radio playlists nationwide, and TV appearances on Late Show With David Letterman, Tonight Show With Jay Leno and Late Night With Jimmy Fallon followed. But when Black Radio took home the award for Best R&B Album at the 2013 GRAMMY Awards, there was no doubt that all eyes were on Glasper and his band of musical brothers.

In the wake of the GRAMMY win, offers to collaborate were abundant and bountiful. This withstanding, Glasper chose to curate his next aural exhibit more keenly to achieve a specifically desired effect. "Black Radio got so much love from the R&B world, so I made a conscious decision to concentrate a bit more on songs for this record," he says of the anomalous coup. With that, Glasper set out to focus on R&B song structure that complimented his jazz pianist chops as well as that of the rest of Robert Glasper Experiment – Casey Benjamin (saxophone/vocoder), Derrick Hodge (bass), and Mark Colenburg (drums).

With this concept firmly in hand, Glasper reached out to noted R&B songwriters to collaborate with. Soon afterwards, he ensconced himself in the legendary Los Angeles recording studio Westlake Studios with the members of the Experiment and a handful of guest vocalists to craft material for the new album. The glowing results from this session and subsequent sessions in Los Angeles and New York City are evidenced throughout the 12 dynamic tracks on Black Radio 2.

Yet even with the proven songwriting talent of his aforementioned company, Glasper exhibits the wisdom to allow some of his featured guests the freedom to flex their skill behind the mic as well as with the pen. The results are brilliantly exemplified in the album's soaring opening track "I Stand Alone" that was crafted with collaborators Common and Patrick Stump, and the lead single, "Calls" featuring Jill Scott, where Scott weaves a story of a metaphysical romantic connection partly quantified in answered phone calls over a lush bed of Glasper's dreamy piano chords. The mesmerizing mid tempo track "Trust" follows suite featuring the crystalline vocals of singer/ songwriter Marsha Ambrosius, who is a noted songwriter in her own right having penned the Michael Jackson hit "Butterflies." Black Radio 2 also features pensive spoken word interludes interspersed amongst the musical mélange by esteemed African American academic/ author Michael Eric Dyson and gospel singer/ preacher John P. Kee.

Poet/actor Malcolm-Jamal Warner made a spontaneous and meaningful contribution to the album when he dropped by the studio and ended up penning and recording a thought-provoking slice of spoken word poetry on the profoundly poignant and symbolic rendition of the Stevie Wonder gem "Jesus Children Of America," featuring the vocals of Black Radio alumnus Lalah Hathaway. The song is fashioned as a tribute to the victims of the 2012 Sandy Hook tragedy and has a deeply personal meaning for Glasper. "The very first time I performed that song live was during a Stevie Wonder tribute on the day the Sandy Hook tragedy took place," he recalls. "I'd also found out that a close friend lost his daughter in the tragedy. So when we did the Stevie song, I almost lost it. It hit close to home, because I have a four-year-old son."

Amidst the immense star power, Black Radio 2 also manages to shine a light on buzz worthy newcomers like BRIT Award winning U.K. artist Emeli Sandé ("Somebody Else") and Island Def Jam recording artist Luke James ("Persevere" featuring Snoop Dogg and Lupe Fiasco). In addition to the original 12 tracks, the deluxe edition of Black Radio 2 includes four bonus tracks: "I Don't Even Care" featuring Jean Grae and Macy Gray, "Big Girl Body" featuring Eric Roberson, "My Everything" featuring Bilal and Jazmine Sullivan, and an instrumental cover of the classic Bill Withers tune "Lovely Day" featuring a spoken intro from Mr. Withers himself who made a surprise visit to the studio in Los Angeles.

Black Radio 2 further exemplifies Glasper's remarkable skill as a producer and musician adept at extracting a truly extraordinary side of his guests' acclaimed talents, irrespective of differences in genre. It is also a magnificent display of an undaunted jazz composer intent on allowing the full range of his musical influences ebb and flow through his output in an astonishing fashion. Black Radio 2 serves as a conceptually illustrious reminder of the multitude of possibilities for musical collaboration and blurring the lines. But for Glasper, this is merely second nature.

"Jazz musicians are becoming more comfortable with music that speaks to them personally," he muses. "I think it's very important that musicians feed off the fruit of the music that actually is the soundtrack of their lives. The only way to keep something relevant is to renew it from history and let it grow and change. When that happens, you start getting stuff like Black Radio 2. Black music is the house that has many rooms. Black people have invented so many dope genres that everyone loves: Jazz, blues, gospel, R&B, rock, hip-hop, and the list goes on. I'm just visiting all those rooms. It's my mansion; it's our mansion. I don't have to exclude anything. With that said, who knows where I'll go next."

A fundraising concert for Dave Valentin will be held on Thursday, November 7, - 7:30 pm at the The Tarrytown Music Hall.

A fundraising concert for Dave Valentin will be held on Thursday, November 7, - 7:30 pm at the The Tarrytown Music Hall.

The Tarrytown Music Hall13 Main StreetTarrytown, NY 10591914-631-3390

Out-of-towners and those unable to attend are still encouraged to buy a balcony seat ticket to help support the cause!

On March 3, 2012, Latin Jazz Flutist and Grammy Award Winner, Mr. Dave Valentin, suffered a stroke that has limited his ability to perform his beloved instrument. The native New Yorker has been in physical therapy since that tragic day. There is a chance that he may be able to wow his audiences on stage worldwide again, but not before he's the beneficiary of some more critical physical therapy.

In the interim, his medical bills have climbing been through the roof. Dave Valentin has insufficient medical insurance to cover the enormous bills surrounding his stroke.

The concert will feature:

Bill O'Connell (Piano)

Lincoln Goines (bass)

Robby Ameen (Drums)

Ragan Whiteside (Flute)

Pulpo (Piano)

Bob Baldwin (Piano/Keyboards)

About Dave ValentinDave Valentin (born April 29, 1952, in New York City) is a jazz flutist.

He learned latin percussion first when he was a teenager, and then switched to flute. Valentin's teacher, the legendary Hubert Laws, suggested that he not double on saxophone because of his attractive sound on the flute. He studied at the Bronx Community College. In 1977, he made his recording debut with Ricardo Marrero's group and he appeared also on a Noel Pointer album. Discovered by Dave Grusin and Larry Rosen, Valentin was the first artist signed to GRP Records, and he has been a popular attraction ever since. Valentin has recorded over 15 albums, combining the influence of pop, R&B and Brazilian music with Latin and contemporary jazz to create a slick and accessible form of crossover jazz.

In 2000, he appeared in the documentary film, Calie 54, performing with Tito Puente. He toured with El Negro and MioSotis. Since the mid-2000s, Valentin has been signed to Highnote Records, releasing World On A String (2005) and Come Fly With Me(2006). He has done several collaborations with pianist Bill O'Connell, and was a Grammy Award winner for his Caribbean Jazz Project in the early 2000's with Dave Samuels as well as a Latin Grammy Award nominee in 2006.

In 2012, he suffered a stroke following a performance at the Jazz Kitchen in Indianapolis, In.

About Bob BaldwinBob Baldwin is a New York-born and bred artist who has been producing records since the 80's, including his works with George Benson, Grover Washington, Jr., Michael Urbaniak, Will Downing, Pieces of a Dream Marion Meadows. He's recorded with Chuck Loeb, Gerald Albright, Paul Brown, Paul Taylor, Chieli Minucci, Glenn Jones, Noel Pointer, Freddie Jackson, Howard Hewitt, to name a select few, and has performed with Dave Valentin on several occasions over the years.

The pianist has done benefits for Haiti for the American Red Cross ("Jazz For Haiti" with Dave Valentin, Chieli Minucci, Ragan Whiteside) as well as "Westchester Musicians for Haiti".

He's released his 20th disc, simply titled, "Twenty". He's recorded more solo discs than any other Westchester County native.

"It's an honor to help my musical buddy Dave Valentin out on this event. He's helped so many others over the years, so it's only fair and just to him to return the favor", says the Westchester native.

NewUrbanJazz and Family Resource Center are the sponsors of the event.

Don't miss it!

The sponsor is NewUrbanJazz and the Family Resource Centerwww.newurbanjazz.com - The Community Agency with the World Class Touch

]]>morrice.blackwell@gmail.com (Morrice Blackwell)Photographer Morrice BlackwellThu, 15 Aug 2013 23:05:08 -0500Maurice Brownhttp://www.jazzreview.com/jazz-photography/photographer-morrice-blackwell/maurice-brown.html
http://www.jazzreview.com/jazz-photography/photographer-morrice-blackwell/maurice-brown.htmlMaurice Brown and the Maurice Brown Effect gave the crowd at New York's Jazz Standard a musical journey through their stunning release, the Cycle of Love. This journey will not soon to be forgotten with its energy, fun and musicianship that was second to none. This was a must buy album for me.

Maurice Brown and the Maurice Brown Effect gave the crowd at New York's Jazz Standard a musical journey through their stunning release, the Cycle of Love. This journey will not soon to be forgotten with its energy, fun and musicianship that was second to none. This was a must buy album for me.

As a saxophonist, Bob Reynolds has worked with a diverse array of artists in both pop (John Mayer, Michael Buble, Usher, Amos Lee, Jessica Simpson, Willie Nelson, Guy Sebastian) and jazz (Richard Bona, Tom Harrell, Brian Blade, Aaron Goldberg, Reuben Rogers, Eric Harland, Gregory Hutchinson). Reynolds is also an award-winning composer with 4 albums of original material and 4 ASCAP Young Jazz Composer Awards to his credit. He graduated with honors from Berklee College of Music and currently lives in Los Angeles.

As a saxophonist, Bob Reynolds has worked with a diverse array of artists in both pop (John Mayer, Michael Buble, Usher, Amos Lee, Jessica Simpson, Willie Nelson, Guy Sebastian) and jazz (Richard Bona, Tom Harrell, Brian Blade, Aaron Goldberg, Reuben Rogers, Eric Harland, Gregory Hutchinson). Reynolds is also an award-winning composer with 4 albums of original material and 4 ASCAP Young Jazz Composer Awards to his credit. He graduated with honors from Berklee College of Music and currently lives in Los Angeles.

It's been nearly one year since we went into the studio to record this album.

It's been nearly two years since I began talking with producer Matt Pierson (Joshua Redman, Brad Mehldau) about what this album would be.

It's been even longer since I began jotting down configurations for who might play this music, what songs would go on this album, and what the overall concept would be. Longer still since some of these tunes were born.

I knew it was going to be a great album; I got the best people for the job. I naively thought this might be the record that caught the attention of a Blue Note, Nonesuch or Concord Records.

Not because one needs a record label to release music these days.

Anybody can put their music on iTunes. All my records are available online. But if you want to reach a wider audience, get promotion, tour effectively, and make more records, you need help. Or you need to be independently wealthy.

I discovered jazz during the height of the young lion era. Wynton Marsalis paved the way in the '80s; Joshua Redman, Roy Hargrove and Christian McBride carried the torch in the 90′s, and for awhile, every decent jazz musician in New York was putting out records — for a label — and touring.

Those days are gone.

But there's a big upside: I get to make whatever music I want with whomever I choose. You can't get dropped when you've never been picked up.

My style doesn't fit neatly into a category like acoustic, straight-ahead, mainstream, contemporary or–God-forbid–smooth jazz, so it's a blessing I don't have to make music to please a particular record label.

I don't have anyone telling me to make radio edits, use certain "marquee" players, what tunes to play, or that I'd sell more tickets/albums if I just wore leather pants and walked through the audience playing my sax high above my head.

That is something to be grateful for.

I'm also very grateful there are people in the world who dig my music. And thanks to technology, we're able to communicate directly.

I'm beyond grateful to find myself in such talented company. To have musical friends and compatriots who not only understand my vision, but bring such life, intensity, and personality to it.

Does it take longer to produce and manufacture high-quality albums on your own? Yes. Will that prevent me from doing it? No. I only wish I could increase the pace of my output (hence the lament for a label [read: bank]).

People love to talk about how "easy and cheap" making music is thanks to laptops, home recording software and the web, but the fact is it costs considerable sums to hire the best musicians, engineers and studios.

You can buy tools and materials at Home Depot, but does that mean you should build your own house?

Anyway, there's a track below in the YouTube media box we are all very excited about. I hope it makes you smile.